Well not sure about you lot, but I think they all take turns blocking the various water intakes on my boat. Fact is they are the cheapest form of transport bags so shops all use them. It's a bit like the other post from Singapore raving about how they do it by charging for bags. Yeah right the only thing Singapore companies see as green are bank notes. It struck someone that they could charge for what was then an expense and call it green. If they were really on our side they would give us a discount for not using there bags then another one for being green. Don't hold your breath waiting on that one kiddies. Those bags can be made degradable but it would cost a few pennies more per thousand. If politicians really wanted to do something they would simply demand that the bags be made degradable and be done with it. In any case we use ours for the rubbish bin then toss them when full. Oh and the cat thinks they make wonderful toys.

Every polypropylene line I have ever bought seems to rot in the sun within a year ...especially the ones around life rings.

Underground, there is no oxygen and obviously no UV light. Therefore things placed in landfills that are not biological in nature, do last a long time. I at one time heard they were going to make those plastic bags out of some sort of starch compound that does biodegrade relatively quickly. Anyone hear of that?

"Every polypropylene line I have ever bought seems to rot in the sun within a year ...especially the ones around life rings."

What I've heard is that the bags disintegrate into small and individually invisible balls of plastic that then circulate on and on and on (collecting in different places as scum depending on current and wind). These balls re-enter our food supply through the digestive tracts of fish, birds etc, potentially causing harm along the way.

As for "its not the plastic bags that are the problem its a social issue" I totally disagree. While there is certainly a behavioral problem the root of the issue is that the bags themselves are not BIODEGRADABLE. We have to fit our technologies to our behavioral patterns and I'm afraid that sometimes the big boot of government is the only way to really get the ball rolling.

In the meantime keep using those reusable bags, pick up your trash and from time to time someone elses to get a true glow of moral superiority....

.... getting off my soap box now and will spend the rest of the day considering the plastic I [accidentally] scraped off our hull and dropped in the ocean this morning.

Because we complain about the smells created by nature kindly recycling what we throw away. So they design the landfills to eliminate the smell. They are basically a clay container. Nothing gets in, nothing gets out (well, water constantly seeps out and has to be treated as hazardous waste). No smell. No decomposition.

So, we not only have a problem with non-biodegradable refuse, but we diligently work at keeping the biodegradable refuse from naturally biodegrading as well.

Because we complain about the smells created by nature kindly recycling what we throw away. So they design the landfills to eliminate the smell. They are basically a clay container. Nothing gets in, nothing gets out (well, water constantly seeps out and has to be treated as hazardous waste). No smell. No decomposition.

So, we not only have a problem with non-biodegradable refuse, but we diligently work at keeping the biodegradable refuse from naturally biodegrading as well.

More lasting monuments to our excess and frivolity.

And if there is no oxygen and a bit of water, they generate methane- a highly potent greenhouse gas.
I bought a shopping trolley the other day- you know the sort that old grannies used to take to the local shops. It works a treat. I get a nice 8Km round trip walk with the dog and 40Kg of groceries without sweat. Mty daughter has a bike trailer.
Robert

I bought a shopping trolley the other day- you know the sort that old grannies used to take to the local shops. It works a treat. I get a nice 8Km round trip walk with the dog and 40Kg of groceries without sweat. Mty daughter has a bike trailer.
Robert

Always nice to hear about folk "Carbon Offseting" - as am planning to buy a Landrover (4x4) But gonna run it on sustainable fuel - baby seal oil (and I get some nice seat covers as well ).

(BTW even I baulked at putting some 3rd world family's dinner into my car).

I get a nice 8Km round trip walk with the dog and 40Kg of groceries without sweat. Mty daughter has a bike trailer.
Robert

As I will be away flying internationally for 2 weeks starting next Saturday you will have to do much better than that to make up for us less anal carbon footprinters air miles.

I suggest that you will need to increase your distance to 20 km and do it 3 times a day running it. You will also need to kill the dog as it has four carbon footprints so quite a drain on the atmosphere - maybe get a goldfish which has no footprints at all. Your "mty" daughter must throw away her bike and run with a knapsack on her back - also must give up eating the mty and eat just vegies instead.

Thank you for your kind cooperation. You and your daughter have been entered into the International Green Compliance Monitoring Program to ensure your compliance with all relevant activist policies.

Back on subject, I have been packing my groceries (and most other things) home in my backpack for at least 10 years now. I have noticed, just recently, that many people at the super market are using reusable bags or boxes for their groceries. Of course they are all made with oil byproducts, but will still reduce the number of plastic bags floating around.

When I substitute something for that which will be in the trash dump shortly, I feel I have done a positive thing. It's my own personal choice of how I want to live knowing that the earth needs care. I feel it's my responsibility as a thinking person.